Before Mendeleev published his periodic system of the elements in 1869, two British chemists independently published periodic tables of their own. In 1863, John A. R. Newlands published his periodic table in an article titled “On Relations among the Equivalents” [Chem. News J. Phys. Sci., 1863, 7, 70], and in 1864, William Odling published his periodic table in his article “On the Proportional Numbers of the Elements” [Q. J. Sci., 1864, 1, 642]. In the next two decades, Newlands would publish 10 more articles expounding and defending his classification of the elements and the underlying periodic law, whereas Odling barely wrote more on the subject. Neither periodic table received the acceptance Mendeleev’s table received, and Newlands was recognized only after Mendeleev’s system gained acclaim. This talk will demonstrate the innovativeness of their classifications of the elements and what their fellow chemists in nineteenth-century Britain thought of their ideas.

Periodicity in Britain: Periodic tables of Odling and Newlands

2019 Fall National Meeting

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